Fitz-Magic Burns Eagles

The Super Bowl teams were apparently not ready for the upstarts! The Tampa Bay Bucs and Jacksonville Jaguars handed the first loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots. On the strength of those two wins, I racked up an impressive 13.5 wins this week. By the way, this level of extreme parity does not surprise me - I don't think it will be much longer before there are no teams left without a loss or a tie. And it's only Week Two!

What a weekend! I decided to pick against both Super Bowl teams this time out, and my hunch paid off. For now, my posting a win-loss record of 13.5 - 2.5 has me up there in a league of my own among NFL prognosticators. I want the paychecks of Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw!

Although it is true that I gambled on "Fitz-magic" against the defending champs, my W-L record last weekend was not magical at all. I had a strong hunch that the champs were not ready for those ultra-competitive, hungry NFL upstart teams. If the top contenders have an off week - or any type of letdown after a big game - then it's easy for them to end up on the losing end, especially when playing on the road. Both the Eagles and Patriots were downed on the road. The Jaguars beat the Patriots in the weekend's biggest game; it did not surprise me, because the Pats could barely cope with that wicked Jag D up there in Foxboro last January. Maybe they'll get another shot in the playoffs.

Another huge battle was fought between the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers, two contenders from the same division - both recent Super Bowl teams. Last week, in their close loss to the Eagles, I noted that the Falcons still had not found a red zone strategy or a short yardage running attack. Sunday, Matt Ryan became the unlikely solution, running for two TDs and throwing for two. Meanwhile, the Saints barely survived the feisty Cleveland Browns.

The three playoff teams from the NFC South are now trailing the 2-0 Bucs. The Saints and Falcons will break their tie next week. The Bucs take on the Steelers Monday Night, and could actually go 3-0, because the Steelers have had a ton of defensive woes. It's not a good time to take on a red-hot offense.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has come out of nowhere to lead the league in passing with over 800 yards (already). He also has eight TDs, eclipsed only by boy wonder Patrick Mahomes of the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs (with 10!)

Another notable win went to the L.A. Rams, who seem to do it all well - running, passing, defense and special teams.

Several teams are 2-0 but I am most impressed with the Jaguars, Rams, Chiefs and Bucs. I will stick with those winning horses for another week.